The UK Insurance Blog

Horse & Hound reports that a forthcoming court case will highlight the need for racehorse owners to hold third party liability insurance.  In a tragic accident at Wolverhampton race course in April 2005 Chris Kinane, assistant to Midlands trainer Ian Williams, was kicked in the head by Saameq, a horse trained by Ian Semple and owned by David Irvine. Chris Kinane was serously injured in the incident and his injuries are so severe that he will require constant care for the rest of his life.

In the case coming to court this year messrs Semple and  Irvine are being sued for negligence. According to the Animals Act 1971, all horse owners are liable for the actions of their horses no matter how much reasonable care is taken to avoid an accident. Since March 2007 third party liability insurance has been mandatory for all trainers but there has been nothing in place requiring owners to be similarly covered and sadly Mr Irvine, the owner of the horse, was uninsured.

The Racehorse Owners’ Association which represents 7,200 of the UK’s 16,000 racehorse owners has this year increased its membership fees to add third party liability insurance to it’s list of benefits but that still leaves many horse owners without this essential cover.  Both of the horse insurance companies on the web site offer third party liability insurance as either part of the policy or as an add-on.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!